The Smiths Give ELV the Crabs
The secret to eating crabs is to remove the shell from the meat, not the meat from the shell. – John Mathew Smith (Wine executive, Burgundy lover, crab junkie)
If you think meat is murder, then ELV suggests gettin’ crabby at Crab Corner. If you’re lucky, John and Irene Smith, formerly of Wilmington (Delaware, not North Carolina) will be there to give you a lesson in carefully calibrated, coordinated and creative crab cracking.
Being former restaurateurs in Delaware, the Smiths know their way around blue crabs the way Click and Clack do around a carburetor, and watching John artfully demolish one to expose all of that sweet meat is a thing of beauty.
As for the restaurant, it is one crabby place indeed. From the Maryland flag on the wall to the Ravens posters all around, you know you’re in blue crab heaven the minute you walk in. Ordering a half dozen or so is the best way to get started — they’re priced from $45-$85 dozen, depending on size — and six are about the perfect lunch or dinner for two.
The rest of the menu is as crustacean-laden as you would expect. The crab soup is filled with veggies and beans and lots of flaky meat from half a small crab, but we found it a tad under-seasoned, but hardly any fault could be found with the crab cakes — which we took in both mini- and regular-sized form. They might not be quite in the same league as Faidley’s, but are as stuffed and lush with crab as any you’ll find in this land-lubber-y part of the world.
We even found ourselves taken with our deep-fried, soft-shell crab sandwich — properly deep fried in clean oil, sitting on a dense, fresh bun, accompanied by good tartar sauce, and the ripest tomato we’ve seen in a restaurant in months.
All told, you’ve got to admire what they’re doing on the corner of Flamingo and Eastern — bringing a restaurant to town that’s trying (and succeeding) at doing a few simple things well with outstanding ingredients.
Hey! THERE’S an idea for you!
Our lunch for two came to $67, including a $15 tip. The Smiths provided the steamed Callinectes sapidus.
CRAB CORNER
4161 South Eastern Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702.489.4646
Restaurant reviews, quips, picks and pans-with some seriously salivating history-from the man who eats his way through Sin City every day.
April 4th, 2011 at 10:37 am
If The Smiths were there, it HAD to be good. I can only guess what wines John may have selected. Since we have similar roots, I was salivating over the photo spread. Thanks John…..and John.
April 7th, 2011 at 1:34 am
If you need a mallet to eat crab your’re doing something wrong. But Hey!…the proof is in the eating. Just bought 2kg (4.4lbs) in-the-shell-crab for 500P (11$)….They’ll make a great dinner as soon as I murder them in the boiling crab jacuzze….YUM!
April 12th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
If it had a Ripken jersey on the wall and some Natty Bo in the fridge, this place could easily be in Bal’mer. The crabs are the real deal. I was shocked to find the price similar to what you’d see around the Chesapeake. I’m not sure I like any food better than plump, well seasoned, steamed blue crab.
April 20th, 2011 at 10:03 am
Blue crab is one of my favourite things about the Chesapeake! Places like this–which bring authentic, regional specialties from another part of the country to Las Vegas–not only add value to our city, but also 100% deserve our support so they’ll stick around! Kudos to Crab Corner for getting Maryland Seafood right, and for bringing it right here to our desert town!!